Category: writing

Sailing Along the Rivers of Life

Replica of the Santa Maria in Columbus Ohio
Replica of the Santa Maria in Columbus Ohio

A few people have mentioned that I’ve been unusually silent on the blog this year, they are correct. It’s been a crazy couple of years for me with this calendar year being the craziest of all. Although I haven’t been posting much here I have been busily writing and working away. For those who are curious here are a few of the things I’ve been up to this year:

Science Online 2012

ARL E-Science Institute

APS Professional Skills Development for Women Physicists which you can read about here on pages 10-11: http://www.aps.org/programs/women/reports/gazette/upload/GAZ-fall2012.pdf

Invited speaker on the ALA Annual ACRL University Libraries Section’s panel: The Librarian Has Left the Building: Keeping the Knowledge Alive through Succession Planning http://ala12.scheduler.ala.org/node/162

Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians from Traditionally Underrepresented Groups

Joint Conference of Librarians of Color: Preserving the Present to Inform the Future: Issues in Data Preservation and Access http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks/83/

LITA National Forum: Preserving Faculty Research: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Data Repository http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks/84/

Some publications have come out:

Deards, K. D. (2012). Discovering, promoting and maintaining emerging technologies. A report of the LITA Emerging Technologies Interest Group meeting, American Library Association annual meeting, New Orleans, June 2011. Technical Services Quarterly, 29(2), 150-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2012.650952

Deards, K. (2012). Changing the way we think: diversity to drive scientific innovation. Synergy 9, (5-7). http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/synergy-issue-9.pdf

Deards, K. (2012). Are nanomaterials dangerous? In Julia Rothman (Ed.), The where, the what & the how: 75 artists illustrate the wondrous mysteries of the universe. New York, NY: Chronicle Books.

Unconventional Inspiration

Image of an open office door titled Doors: Walk Through Them
Doors: Walk Through Them

Perhaps you’re ambitious, or maybe you just want to get through the day and do the 150 things you need to finish before going home due to layoffs / eliminating positions when people retire.

Your office has a door that goes two ways for a reason, make sure that you use it!

You could go to a coffee shop and sip a cup of tea, or go for a walk and observe the local squirrel population. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you focus on something other than work.

If you take a short break once a day I guarantee that you will feel better and be more productive afterwards. Taking a total break is one of the best ways to inspire inspiration but it’s pretty traditional.? Here are some unconventional ways to find some inspiration.

Play for the Future:

TEDxBG Steve Keil: A Manifesto for Play, for Bulgaria and Beyond

While some might say I take my work overly seriously what many people miss don’t realize is that I’m probably one of the silliest people they know. I just save all my silly for my home life (apologies to my husband for my excessive silliness, but not really because he knew what I was like before we got married). I enjoy silly things and was once told my propensity for being silly was only exceeded by the silly people I gathered around me. One silly friend and I once presented our summer research as a fairy tale complete with chocolate loving witches. No matter how serious I may appear at times, play and fun are just as important to a happy balanced me. Don’t take my word for it, listen to Steve’s talk complete with facts to support our anecdotal belief that play is essential to inspiration, innovation, and a healthy work environment. (This is good I listened to it twice!)

Novel Sources of Inspiration:

The Anthropologist
Although this website is managed by Anthropologie, this site is not commercial. Rather it is a site dedicated to inspiration and imagination. Through video and pictures with captions they tell their stories. Lose yourself in their stories, from the video of the beautifully talented dance of The Little Ballerina, to Urnatur a photo and video journey showcasing the woodland home created by Hakan Strotz, forester, and his wife Ulrika Krynitz, biologist and modern designer.

Exploring Others’ Sources of Inspiration

Etsy

Etsy is a website that features handmade goods direct from the creators. You can buy everything from bath soap to original oil paintings and wood furniture. I always like to see what’s featured on the front page, if you scroll all the way down you can see recently added items in a constantly moving stream. Want to find out what inspires those who sell and create? Check out the Etsy blog, frequently updated with stories about potters, artists, master woodworkers, etc.

What do you do for inspiration? Please share in the comments.

(Comments with links are moderated but approved unless they are spam.)